Long Time No See
by Villain Princess
Summary: Iwabee has known Flora, cousin of Shikadai and daughter of Gaara, since they were kids. They also lost their friendship during the time of their youth. On Konoha's trip to Kiri they reconnect and start it up. But there are still people who don't like the era Peace the five Kage have ushered in and will do anything to bring about war, even tearing apart friends and family.
1. Chapter 1

As Iwabee and his classmates dock in the Hidden Mist Village, looking around all things for tourists he sees familiar faded purple-hair with a choppy cut that meets just the top of her shoulders. She's wearing a red shirt like Sarada but darker, no family crest on the back her right sleeve reaches just a little passed her elbow while the left reaches halfway to her elbow like a T-shirt. The skirt of her shirt barely meets her knees, she has on grey shorts underneath that her standard white and black kite on her right thigh meets the bottom of. She has on black stockings that meet her thighs and black shinobi sandals. A red bandanna tied around her neck. She's talking to a local. What about he doesn't know.

He pretends to be reading until she turns around to make sure that she is who he thinks she is or if it's a case of mistaken identity. Reading the last few lines of a paragraph, Iwabee looks back up to see that she is gone. Hearing a cough in front of him, the young Yuino expects to see some of his friends but instead he is met with the girl he has only seen the backside of. Her bangs are as choppy as the rest of her hair, the only difference is that the choppy fringe bangs have some red in the hair in outline. Her eyes are the same sea-foam green as her father's. He hasn't seen her in a while, not since they were just little kids in school. She's a prodigy and got into Suna's Ninja Academy early and graduated that same year, eventually entering the Chunin exams at the age of nine (and a soloist due to small enrollment) and passed.

Her hands are on her hips. "Fl-Flora!" Iwabee squeaks out as he fumbles with the tourist guide he's reading. "H-haven't seen you in a while."

The strict line of her mouth turns at the corner into a smile. "I could say the same. What are you doing here?"

"School trip. What about you?"

"Work. Dad hates being kept out of the loop and the winds have been telling me that something is occurring so I came to investigate. Gotta go." With that Flora is gone. That is one thing he likes and dislikes about Flora is how quick she is. On a mission it'll come in handy but hanging out with friends or talking to them then leaving? Not so much. Denki grabs his attention. When this classmate clad in blue asks what he's staring at Iwabee states that he's just staring at the blue sky, though he isn't sure Denki, Shikadai, Metal, Sarada, Wasabi, or any other of his classmates buy it due to how fast he says it. And the faint blush he feels on his cheeks as well.

Feeling eyes on him, Iwabee stops for a moment to look around but doesn't see Flora anywhere in sight. Shaking the feeling off, he returns to his friends and back to the trip at hand; there is no reason for him to tell Shikadai that his cousin is here. Especially when she can make a visit herself.

* * *

Through the thugs, making friends with Kagura, and now trying to find Denki Iwabee hasn't thought much about Flora. In fact he thought she may already gone home until he confronts Tsurushi in an alleyway. Mitsuki, Inojin, and Shikadai find him. The curly-hair thug tells them where Shizuma and his new Seven Swordsmen of The Mist are. As they're leaving he catches a glimpse of a something long and red.

It's not until they are at the memorial fighting does she make her appearance known. Currently Chojuro is being tied up with Nuibari with the other Swordsmen are fighting the other students. "Started the party a little early, didn't you?" Flora's voice rings in the air as she uses her fan to slice the strings of Nuibari that are keeping Lord Sixth tied up. "You know, I like to think of myself as a pacifist. But I'm willing to make amends to my beliefs when I see fit. One of them being when people attack a Kage because they're willing to wage war and disrupt the peace our Shinobi heroes fought to keep." She appears before the blonde-hair wielder and punches her in the face. "I believe you can care of the rest from here, Lord Chojuro."

Chojuro nods at her statement. The young Sunanin then leaves, knowing that the Leaf Shinobi can take care of themselves. She stands on a nearby tree branch just in case. She watches in amazement as her cousin, Boruto, and the others finish the battle. She's surprised to see Kagura among; she has heard rumors about him joining but hasn't really believed them. Even now she can hardly fathom her Kiri friend being ready to take part and start a war. Once everything is all said and done she heads back to the hotel to pack her things.

At the hotel, Flora can see that Shikadai, Iwabee, and the others are back without a scathe. "Shikadai, long time no see." Flora states approaching her cousin with the spiky ponytail.

"Flora, hey, what are you doing here?" Shikadai asks, his dark green eyes lighting up with glee.

"I just finished a job here. Kinda surprised to see you, what are you doing here?" She lies. She has to. She would've pointed out that she and Iwabee go back but they haven't seen each other in years. Not since her Chunin exams when he was cheering her on in her match where she won. It wasn't long after that that the Kazekage's daughter passed almost all the tests without struggle. A couple weeks later she returned to Konoha to see Aunt Temari, Uncle Shikamaru, and Shikadai when she ran into Iwabee and told him that she had made Chunin in her excitement, unaware that the people of Konoha were calling her Suna's Princess. Since then she has kept her distance from Iwabee when visiting Konoha, which isn't hard since she mostly deals with Jonin and Chunin. Although she has heard him being called The Repeater because his grades haven't been the best in his non-ninja courses.

"We're on a school trip. Nothing but learning and a bit of tourism."

"Good to know." Just then Shino-sensei and Anko-sensei come in telling them that they should all retire to their rooms for the evening. "Guess I'll catch you later, hopefully we'll see each other soon."

"Yeah, later." Shino and Anko watch as their students go back to their rooms. She turns and sees Iwabee is still sitting on one of the circular blue couches. She goes over and sits a few spaces down from him. "Looks like you've made yourself some new friends. And with Dai's class no less." She remarks.

"What are you doing here Flora?" Iwabee's voice has an edge to it.

"I was actually getting ready to leave, but I wanted to visit with my cousin and with my old friend."

"So now we're old friends?" The edge is almost to a breaking point, Flora can tell that he's about to let his pint-up anger out.

"We were friends in the past so I think that does consider us old friends."

"Then why did you stop our friendship? After you passed Chunin and came to Konoha you said you were busy but I also know you would come to see your family because I would see you out with Lady Temari. Yet you never had time for me."

"That's it though, Iwabee. When I went to Konoha after the Chunin exams and you asked if the Kazekage's daughter passed the so-called Princess of Suna-a title I don't even like, by the way-the one to, I knew I couldn't keep it secret from you."

"By why keep it a secret at all?"

"Because you are the only person besides my family to actually treat me like a person and not some princess that can't defend herself or shouldn't even be a Shinobi because I have all the private tutors of the Land of Wind at my disposal. I stopped because I thought you would like some time to yourself to wrap your head around it all. Then I really did get busy, hardly being able to visit Konoha for almost a year and when I did come back I thought you had different friends and the Academy and other things going on that I didn't want to intrude. But I would like to start our friendship up again, if you don't mind that is."

Iwabee shrugs. "Sure, why not."

"Great! I'll talk to you soon because I really do need to leave if I plan on making it back to Suna before my expected time. Oh, and Iwabee, the friends you have now they're a good bunch. And I can tell that you're going to pass the Academy this year, I believe in you."

With that Flora grabs her suitcase and sends a wink Iwabee's way as she places her hands together and uses a jutsu that makes her, her giant fan, and suitcase into sand riding the winds all the way back to her desert village.


	2. Chapter 2

He receives a letter from her when he becomes a Genin congratulating him. He gets it while he is being placed on Team 5 with Udon-Sensei with Denki and Metal. He waits until he gets home to read it. He does consider Metal and Denki his friends, maybe even his best friends, but he doesn't want them to see his letter. And if Flora signed it they could easily assume that the Flora who signed it is the same one they encountered on their school trip.

And Iwabee isn't exactly sure he can pull off a convincing lie that the Flora who is writing him is a different Flora that he met while they were in Kiri. He didn't exactly make it a priority to mingle with many of the people of the Hidden Mist Village. And he's sure if they say a word about Flora writing to him then they will never let him live it down.

Placing the letter down with next to Udon-Sensei's backpack as he goes to train with them. First the new Team 5 members all use teamwork to fight their new sensei before Udon splits them up into duos. Iwabee vs Metal, Metal vs Denki, Denki vs Iwabee.

As he fights against his friends, and even with his break there in the middle he wonders what she could have said in the letter. Around new people Flora isn't much of a talker so she could be cautious and not have much to say. Around people she has known for a while she is still shy but is more outgoing so she could've written more than a couple of paragraphs.

He doesn't know. He just wants the day to be over with so he can go home a read it. Udon's voice brings Iwabee back to reality signaling that the Metal vs Denki round is done and it's time for Iwabee and Denki to face each other. Pushing all his thoughts concerning Flora's letter aside, Iwabee stands up and trades places with Metal.

"All right, let's do this." He exclaims as he uses his Earth Style to take Denki down. It's a quick match, not because both were low on chakra but because the son is already setting in the sky and with it being the first day Udon wants them to have some time to relax.

Metal exclaims that the day was perfect as Udon-Sensei dismisses them for the day. Quickly going over to get his letter, Iwabee picks it up as he heads home. He greets his dad as he heads to his room. Placing his stick against the wall, taking his jacket off and placing it on the doorknob of his closet, Iwabee sits on his bed holding the cream colored envelope in his hands with the Wind Kanji stamp in the middle the young Genin carefully opens it.

_Dear Iwabee,_

_I hear you are no longer a repeater and have officially become a Genin!_

_Congrats! I always knew you could do it. I can't wait to see what else your ninja journey takes you on. Hope to see you soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Sabaku No Flora._

It's short, but with them restarting their friendship what else can they say? When he's done reading Iwabee can feel a heat on his face. One that he is blaming on being outside in the sun all day and not because of the letter.

Pushing himself off of his bed, Iwabee goes over to his old school bag and pulls out an one of his old notebooks. Flipping to a blank page and rips it out. Placing the piece of paper on the cover of the notebook and starts writing a response back to her. Thanking her for the letter and congratulating her on becoming a Jonin, despite it having been official for a few years now.

He asks her how she's been, how her Jonin missions are, and what are some of the things she likes. He doesn't know why, he figures that's something good to ask a new friend or one a person is reconnecting with; as he folds the letter into thirds so he can put it into a envelope and send it tomorrow he is excited and nervous about what her response will be to his question about what she likes.

* * *

He receives her response a few weeks later after the mission Team 5 was assigned about getting a turnip up from the ground and after he engaged the Byakuya Gang which lead to him being under house arrest by his Sensei. He's out getting the mail when he gets it. There's some stuff in there for his dad. Flipping through all the mail when comes across a cream envelope addressed to him Iwabee almost stops halfway back to his home.

This letter. . . . this letter has her response. Iwabee feels a lump form in his throat as his brains stops, this letter-for some reason-feels a bit heavier than the last and could lead them down the path on whether they are going to be just as close as they were before or remain friends but at a distance.

Entering his home, he places his father's mail on the kitchen counter as he opens Flora's letter on the way back to his room.

_Dear Iwabee,_

_I am doing fine. My Jonin missions keep me from home longer than I like, but I am doing it to protect our peace, keep Suna safe, and I get to travel all over so I suppose it isn't that bad._

_As for what I like. . . . it's hard to say but my hobbies are gardening (yes even in Suna we garden)._

Iwabee cracks a smile. That's one thing he's glad hasn't changed with her. When they were only eight and in Suna, Flora took him to the green house that Suna has but even more than that. . . she took him to the secret garden that the office/home of the Kazekage Clan has.

_I've also taken up some Puppeteer work with Uncle Kankuro but isn't my preferred way of fighting. Although he does let me paint his face every now and again. I like dark purple, dark blue, black, and silver. Night sky sorta thing I guess. I my sweet tooth hasn't changed although I tend to change out junk sweets like a candy bar for fruit. My least favorite being seafood. _

_Enough about me. What about you? How are you doing? Your Genin missions? I know this is sudden, but I'm curious: will you be in the Chunin exams this year? They're coming up shortly._

_Hope to hear from you soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Sabaku No Flora._

In between the 'hope to hear from you soon' and 'sincerely' there's something crossed out so harshly that Iwabee wonders what it's about. He doesn't dwell on it long as he thinks about what she's just said. The Chunin exams are soon. They happen every six months. Mostly between Suna and Konoha with the other three nations joining and the Five Kage coming to watch the final round.

If Iwabee is being honest, he hasn't thought about the Chunin exams for a while now. Not since he has become a Genin and made friends with his classmates.

He makes a mental note to ask Udon-Sensei about it. After all, they have three months to prepare for it.

Entering his room, he places the letter in the drawer of his nightstand. He can easily respond to most of the things in the letter but he doesn't want the question about the Chunin exams to be unfulfilled as he writes his response.

Hearing a knock on his front door Iwabee goes to answer it, opening it to an ecstatic Denki and Metal who greet him by hugging him to the ground informing him that they're happy to be a team of three again. The brunette looks at them quizzically before a cough comes from a tall fair-skin man with black framed glasses. Udon-Sensei.

"Sensei, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to let you know that your house arrest is over and you are allowed to come back. But never pull a stunt like you did with the Byakuya Gang again or your punishment could be worse."

"Right! Thank you Sensei!"

Soon, while they still have time to train and prepare for it. Iwabee is going to have to ask about the Chunin exams. And who knows, maybe he'll see Flora there too.

* * *

**Hey guys, I plan on giving Flora a mother and I'm curious to see who you all want to be her because I'll be doing a Gaax? and KankuroxSari thing with them.**

**And because this is in Boruto GaaHina, GaaIno, GaaSaku, GaaNaru, GaaSasu, GaaLee, GaaTen, is out. So I've got Fuu, Matsuri, Yukata, I'm personally playing with (though if I'm being honest not a big fan of GaaFuu, I view them more like siblings than anything).**

**What do you all want to see?**


	3. Chapter 3

Flora is on one of the cliffs surrounding her home. Her father has given her the next few months off so she can train with Shinki, Araya and Yodo preparing them for the Chunin exams that will be held in Konoha. As much as Flora does enjoy her job a Jonin she really does miss her home when she is away for a long periods of time. Plus she still has clone keeping eye for her.

After her visit to Kiri, Flora came upon something that looked similar to what her father has told her about Kaguya and Toneri. She has a bad feeling about it all, but with wanting to be home and looking for more clues creating a clone is the only thing she could come up with.

Jumping down from the cliff and to the actual ground, Flora starts making her way towards the arena behind the Kazekage building. Unlike the Kage who pick their leaders by the strongest and/or most recognized Shinobi from their village the Kazekage is picked by clan. Flora knows that Temari was a strong contender for a while after the murder of her grandfather, but she didn't want it. Her dad did so the Jonin council waited until Gaara became more welcomed by the people to let him be Kazekage.

Of course there was a stint just a few years after the Fourth War that a corrupt council member wanted her dad to step down as Kazekage, marry, and produce an heir as the next leader while her Uncle Kankuro took up the mantle. Said council member was going to then kill her uncle, father, and the hypothesized woman and child in said scenario and give the role to someone else that was actually just a puppet by Kankuro.

After that, her dad reunited with her mom. They started off as friends gradually growing into something more. Flora was born of their union and when Flora was two-years-old her mom went on a mission and didn't come back. Almost two years later, her aunt Sari went on the exact same mission and also failed to return. Kankuro has spent his time since being an adviser/shadow Kazekage to her dad while also being a single father himself.

Entering the arena she sees that Shinki is making an embroidery while Araya is practicing with his sword and Yodo is laying across a bench with her earbuds in. Araya is the first to spot her, then Shinki. Feeling the movement of Shinki getting up, Yodo looks over pulling her earbuds out as she walks over.

"Okay everyone, let's get started." Flora declares. While the team mostly trains with their sensei, their sensei is currently on a solo mission.

"Hold on." The group of four turns and sees a familiar turban-clad head with the left side of the face covered.

"Grandpa Baki!" Flora greets. Baki isn't really her grandfather, he was the sensei to her father, aunt, and uncle but he still treated them like his own children nonetheless. So when Flora could start talking she's been calling him grandpa and hasn't met much resistance. Baki is retired and wears a tan robe with a beige scarf. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to check on my new favorite ninja and kunoichi in training."

"We haven't even started, but do you mind leaving us alone for now Baki-sensei?" Araya says. Baki nods, hugs the four then heads back inside to check-up on Kankuro and Gaara.

"Shinki, how about you and I face each other while Yodo and Araya sit this one out."

Shinki doesn't bat an eye but Flora can tell through his dark orbs that he is clearly unsettled and curious about this. The truth is that she hasn't spent that much time with Shinki in the last couple of years since she became a Jonin and her missions. She really misses their bonding and hopes that them sparring together can help start rekindle that.

As Yodo and Araya take their seats, the two Kage children take their stances. "Show me what you've got." Flora remarks.

"All right, sis. Your in for a surprise." Part of the metal sand around starts coming towards her. Flora jumps out of the way bringing out her giant fan and swinging it out of the way. She then starts running in circles around him, metal sand chasing her. Once Shinki is completely uncovered from his sand, Flora brings out her rope javelin capturing his wrist after throwing it and wrapping him up with the rest of her elongated rope.

"Not bad." She comments. "But next time in training don't have your sand try and kill me." She can recall when she and her dad first took Shinki in. She and Shinki would train constantly together but his sand still tried to seriously harm her because it saw her as an enemy than a friend. She thought they had moved passed it, but she guesses they haven't.

The rest of the training goes by relatively smoothly. Flora fights against Araya and Yodo, even allowing the two to fight each other while Flora keeps her eyes on Shinki. He's back to his embroidery. Ever since they were younger to take his mind off anything bad, Shinki would do anything. Embroidery being his favorite.

The young Jonin wonders if she should try to talk to her brother. He doesn't like to be disturbed when he's doing such things. She is really torn here. Either way she feels as if both ways could help or tarnish the relationship she yearns to rebuild. Taking a breath, she just goes over and sits next to him deciding that that is the best way until he stops. Not saying a thing.

It takes some time but eventually they all call it a day. Heading inside, Flora looks over her shoulder and sees that Shinki is making his way slowly inside still transfixed by his current design.

* * *

It's late at night around ten or eleven. Flora is in bed, tossing and turning. She is unable to find sleep. First she meets Iwabee after years and have rekindled their friendship while she is also trying to get closer t her own brother.

Throwing her covers back, legs swinging over the side and going over to her window Flora looks up at the moon shining high in the sky. She likes watching the night sky, the moon, the stars. She looks down at the dark city. She wonders who else might be up this late at night that aren't ninja assigned to the night/early morning shifts. Not just in Suna but in all the villages.

Deciding that some training might help her, Flora changes out of her pajamas and into her regular clothes. Focusing her chakra to her feet as to not disturb her dad and Shinki, she leaves her room heading for the training grounds. Everything is very calm and quiet on her way she feels a little uncomfortable going to train but when she sees some lights illuminating the grounds she keeps her chakra centered at her feet until she can see who the person is.

Carefully entering the grounds she sees Shinki hitting some of wooden dummies. Relaxing Flora lets go of her chakra.

Big mistake.

Before she knows it part of Shinki's metal sand detaches itself from him and comes straight for her. Leaping into the air the purplenette can see the look of horror on her brother's face. She knows why. The metal still gets her but not enough to break her leg. Flora can feel a scolding white pain rush to her right leg as she hits the ground with a thud.

She can hear her brother calling out her name as she hisses in pain. His shouts must wake their dad, uncle, cousin, and Baki up because the next thing she knows they're all coming rushing on the grounds as they take in the scene before them. Eventually the pain becomes unbearable that Flora blacks out.

Beeping from a monitor is the first thing she hears, a bright light is the first thing she sees. Groaning while slowly opening her eyes Flora notes that she is laying against something cold, hard, and smooth. She sees her dad and Baki sleeping in some chairs. Due to Gaara's years of insomnia he is the first to wake-up even by the slightest of sounds.

"How are you feeling Flora?" He asks.

"Tired. Where's Shinki?"

"He, Kankuro and Araya are out in the hall. Shinki didn't want to come in. Kankuro and Araya stayed with him as Big Brother ushered me in here." Her dad explains.

Feeling a chill, Flora looks up and sees her leg in the air due to a rock formation on the bed. "Dad, what happened?"

Her dad looks down shadows casting over his face. "Shinki's sand fractured your leg."

"Is that why he didn't come in?"

"He was afraid of your-my-our reactions. According to Kankuro he thinks that we'll stop loving him and start hating him."

"That's ridiculous! I dislike what happened, yes, but I still love him! He's my brother and I'll die protecting him!"

Her dad smiles at her. "The doctor said it will be at least between four-to-six weeks to recover maybe longer when we see how it's healing meaning that you won't be able to do any taijustsu or hardly any training for that matter. You can still swing your fan and use your rope javelin but no shuriken or kunai until it is healed. Understood?"

Flora nods. She asks her dad to bring Shinki in. "That won't be any use." A new voice pipes up. They look over and see Baki. "Kankuro came in some time ago and said that with both boys asleep he wanted to take them home. Considering Flora can be discharged as quickly as now, I figured it wouldn't hurt. Plus, Shinki looked liked he had been crying and he doesn't like to be seen as weak."

Crying doesn't make him weak, Flora thinks. It doesn't make anyone weak. It just makes them stronger.

Flora just huffs out a breath waiting for a nurse to come in so she can be discharged. So she can go home and reassure her brother.


End file.
